Wind energy is bringing economic renewal to many parts of our country and new technology offers an exciting promise for us to harvest the wind here in Alabama, too. Growing our state’s wind industry would create jobs and new business ventures, increase energy independence, and reduce pollution impacts from traditional power generation on air, water, and health.

Unfortunately, anti-wind activists are lobbying legislators in Alabama and spreading misinformation about wind power. To further their agenda, these clean energy naysayers are pushing for a virtual ban on wind turbines and disguising it as regulation. As written, SB12/HB106 limits private property rights by setting extreme limits on sound, requiring wind turbines to be quieter than rainfall, crickets, birds, refrigerators, dishwashers, cars, boats and maybe even the wind itself; and demanding nearly a half mile between wind turbines and the nearest property line. By comparison, coal mines only have to be 300 feet from the nearest building. The Senate version also gives the Public Service Commission nearly free rein to set any limits on wind development that it likes.